Innersole and method of making the same.



J. V. POOLE.

INNERSOLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1914.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

"sole, but permanently attached thereto f forming and applying ihgthe same method and showin .mssn v. POOLE, or

ABINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO LLOYD L.

LIVINGSTON, 0F ABINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

INNEBSOLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 27, 1915.

Application filed November 7, 1914. Serial No. 870,868.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JEssE V. POOLE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Abington, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Innersoles and Methods of Making the Same, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates both to an inner sole, for boots and shoes made according to the Goodyear method, having a novel form of rib for receiving the stitches of the inseam by which the upper and welt are attached to the inner sole in the Goodyear method, and to the method of producing such inner sole.

The objects of my invention are chiefly the following, first, to produce an inner sole of which the body may be made of inexpensive material; second, to provide a rib structurally distinct from the body of the inneg an having such inherent stiffness and rigidity that it will hold its form and position even though the body of the inner sole has practically no stiffness; third, to devise such a procedure in making such rib and applying it to the body of the inner sole that the rib may be formed and so applied in one con-,

tinuous operation.

Accordingly my invention consists in providing a rib consisting of a strip formed of flexible material and including a stiffening member in its interior, and in attaching such rib to a flat inner sole body at the same time and in continuation of the by which the rib is assembled and ormed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation illustrating in a somewhat diagrammatic manner the operation of the rib to the inner perspective view illustratthe inner sole and the rib in an inverte position. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the completed inner sole. Fig. 4 is a cross section on an enlarged scale of the same.

The same reference characters indicate the, same parts in all the figures.

In producing aninner sole according to this invention I provide a body a, which is a sheet of any suitable material cut out to the' form of an inner sole, and which is or sale. Fig. 2 is a may be fiat on both surfaces.- I do not limit 65 myself to any particular material for makrocedure ing the body, for I may use leather, leatherboard, paper, felt, textile fabric, or any other material whatever. The important point is that the body need not be Stiff, but may be made of material so thin and flexible as to be practically without stiffness, and that therefore I do not need to use expensive material but may use the cheapest sort of stock having suflicient tensile strength to hold a scam. I do not need to use stock which possesses sufiicient inherent stiffness to maintain itself in aflat condition, neither do I have to apply a sizing or stiffening sub stance to the stock to give it stiffness. The cutting out or forming of the inner sole body 18 not a part of my invention, but may be performed in any known way.

Having provided the inner sole body I provide and apply to one side thereof a rib for the purpose of receiving the stitches of the inseam when the inner sole is incorporated in a shoe. For the purposes of this invention I embrace in the term rib the entire strip or piece Which is applied to the inner sole body, and a part of which forms the actual rib through which the stitches of the inseam are passed. The rib which I have provided by this invention consists of two parts, one being a covering strip or member b of flexible material and the other being a reinforcing or core strip a of relatively hard or stifl material. The covering member 12 is provided in a long strip of sufficient width to embrace the core when folded longitudinally and to provide lips or flaps b, b on opposite sides of the core. The material which I prefer to use for the covering member is cotton duck, which is suificiently flexible and strong for my purpose, but I may use any other material having these qualities to a greater or less degree. It is suflicient if the covering member is sufficiently flexibleto be folded longitudinally about a core and to be bent when so folded, without breaking, and if it is sufliciently tough to hold the stitches of a seam. comparatively hard or stifi' material and may be leather, leatherboard, fiber, cane, or flexible wood, or a braided 0r twisted cord. I consider that the form most desirable for the coreis substantially oblong in cross section, since by using a core having greater width than thickness projecting to any desired height above the surface of the sole Without being at the same .110

The core 0 is a strip of I can produce a rib time objectionably thick or wide. It is an essential of the invention that the stitchreceiving rib be formed with these two members, namely, the core or reinforcing member, and the covering member.

That part of my invention which relates to the method of producing the finished inner sole, comprises the steps of assembling the members of the rib, forming the rib into the required shape, and attaching the rib to the body of the inner sole by seams at each side of the projecting part of the rib in one operation. Accordingly I feed the covering strip and the core strip simultaneously toward the sole body with the core strip between the body a and the covering strip, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, at the same time bending the covering strip longitudinally to form a fold in which the core is received, and bending the edges of the covering strip outwardly to lie flat against, the surface of the sole body. The carrying out of these forming operations is timed so that when the rib comes into contact with the sole body its formationis complete, the stiffening core being enveloped in the covering member and the edges or flaps b and b of the latter being turned out and laid flat against 1e sole body. The rib is permanently un' ed to the sole body by seams d and e, the stitches of \vhich'pass through the flaps b and b of the rib close to the base of the core. In Fig. 1, I have shown a needle f for making one of the seams. I do not limit this part of the invention to the employment of any particular apparatus for forming the rib and stitching it to the body of the inner sole, since these steps may be performed by various sorts of apparatus, or entirely by hand. However, to produce the completed inner soles commercially it; is desirable, of course, that the seams be stitched by an automatic sewing machine, and for this purpose I may use any one of several machines which are available and have two needles adapted to operate simultaneously on both sides of the upstanding central part of the rib, and an automatic means for feeding the body of the sole. I may also employ in connection with such a sewlng machine a guide for the covering member so shaped as to form automatically the required longitudinal fold in this member and also a guide for placing the reinforcing strip in the central fold, but I may guide the strips or members and form the covering member by hand.

, he completed inner sole, as is shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 4, is provided with an upstanding rib which is rendered sufliciently stifl by the reinforcing strip or core 0 to maintain its upright condition. This rib is sufiiciently flexible to follow the curvature of the outlines of the inner sole and be bent rather sharply at the toe, but its stiffness is such that when so curved and bent it tends to remain in one plane and to resist buckling or bending of the inner sole body, sotha-t it reinforces such body when the latter is soft and flexible, that is, the rib does not depend upon the stiffness of the inner sole body to hold its position and its upright form, but retains such form and position independently of the insole .body. Indeed the only functions of the body are to serve as aguide in bending the rib and as a tie memberto prevent the rib from straightening out after it has been bent into the desired outline.

Essentially the only function of the body of an inner sole in a Goodyear shoe is to hold the rib against the pull of the upper after lasting and inseaming, and the only stresses which it has to withstand are those of tension. This function is as well performed by a material having sufficient tensile strength but no substantial stiffness as by leather of the best grades. tempts have been made to cheapen the cost of production of inner soies by providing various expedients to enable the cheaper grades and qualities of stock to be used for the insole body, but I believe my improyed inner sole, by providing a rib which in itself is stiff, is structurally separate from the body of the inner sole, and contains only sufiieient material to enable it to be securely attached to such body is an advance in the art in that the inner sole body may be made of cheaper material than has ever been possible heretofore and that the method of making the inner sole requires fewer operations and less material than is the case with any inner soles heretofore produced.

I am aware of the prior patent to Edward E. Orr, No. 681,506, dated August 27, 1901, in which a rib is formed on an inner sole by laying a cord upon the face of the inner sole body and then laying a sheet of fabric over this cord and the entire surface of the sole, and tucking the fabric into the angles between the cord and the surface of the body, and securing the fabric to the body by seams at each side of the cord. A sole made according to this patent is necessarily more expensive than mine both on account of the I greater number of operations required to make it, in that the cord must be laid and temporarily secured, the reinforcing fabric then laid and formed by a further operation, and securing seams sewed by a still further operation; and also on account of the greater quantity of material required to provide a reinforcing sheet which lies over the entire surface of the sole, as dis tinguished from a strip which does not cover the surface of the sole between the ribs; and further on account of the cement which is required by Orrs method and the loss of time required for the cement to dry before subsequentoperations can be performed. I am also aware of the patent to Corson, No.

Many ata 1,034,208, granted July 30, 1912., in which a rib is formed from a strip of fabric folded and stitched together to maintain the fold, but having no stiffening or reinforcing core. My sole has the advantage over that of the Corson patent that the rib is stifi' and maintains its upright condition and can not be laid flat against the surface of the sole, While the rib of the Corson patent is soft and flexible and is very liable to be bent down so that the needle of the inseam stitching machine will not pass through it properly.

My inner sole is less expensive to manufacture in that the rib does not require to be made up by a separate operation preliminary to being applied to the body of the inner sole, but is formed and applied in one operation, and further in that the seam required in the Corson device to hold the sides of the rib together is not required in my invention.

WVhile I do not limit the broader aspects of the invention to a rib in which the reinforcing element is a strip of material having an approximately oblong cross section, but include within the same a cord or other element which is approximately circular in cross section, yet I claim as my invention the specific embodiment of the core which is here illustrated and which is a strip having greater Width than thickness.

The term fabric as used in the foregoing specification and in the following claims to designate the covering member I) of the rib is not intended to limit the material of which this covering member is made to textile fabric alone, but it is intended to cover any material having the qualities necessary to enable this covering member to serve its designed purpose, as hereinbefore set forth.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An inner sole comprising a body and a rib, said rib being a composite strip of substantially uniform Width laid on one surface of the body following the-outline thereof, and having a core and a flexible covering member which is folded over the core and permanently united by stitching to the body at each side of the core.

2. An inner sole comprising a body and a composite rib consisting of a core strip and a covering strip of fabric of sufiicient ividth to cover said core strip and to provide attaching flaps on each side thereof, said covering strip embracing the core and being stitched to the body at each side of i the core.

3; An inner sole comprisin a body and a composite stitch-receivl ri formed of a fabric strip folded longitu inally to provide an upstanding portion and having its edge portions turned out and laid against the said body and stitched thereto on each side of the upstanding portion, and a reinforcing memher contained within such upstanding portion.

4. An inner sole comprising abody portion and a rib structurally distinct from said body portion and permanently connected thereto, said rib comprising a core member having greater Width than thickness and a covering strip embracing said core member and stitched to the said body at each side of said core member, the core member being so arranged that its greater cross sectional dimension is approximately perpendicular to the plane of the body.

An inner sole comprising a body and a composite stitch-receiving rib formed of a core and a fabric covering bent around said core so as to embrace the same, and a seam uniting said fabric covering to the inner sole body at each side of the base of the core, the said seams being the only means for holding the sides of the strip in their determined relation to one another. and the said strip being of substantially uniform width throughout and covering only the portions of the sole body immediately ad]acent to the core.

6. The method of producing an inner sole having an attached composite stitch-receiving rib which consists in simultaneously laying a core member and a covering strip against the surface of the inner sole body, bending the covering strip so as to embrace the sides of the core member and stitching the covering strip to the body at each side of the core.

7. The method of producing an inner sole which consists in laying against one surface of the inner sole :1 core member and a. covering member, at the sametime forming said covering member so as to embrace the sides of the core member and stitching the covering member to the inner sole body at each side of the base of the core member.

8. The method of producing an innersole having an upstanding stitchreeeiving rib. which consists in progressively laying on one side of an innersole body and on a line conforming generally to the outline of such body Within the edges thereof. a long narrow core member and a covering strip, in such manner that the longitudinal central portion of the strip) overlies the core member, progressively ending down the strip on each side of the core toward the said body, progressively turning the edge portions of the strip outwardly from the core member and laying such edge portions against the body beside the base of the strip, and progressively stitching such out-turned edge portions to the body close to the core member and on opposite sides thereof.

9. The method of producing an inner sole having a projecting stitch receiving rib, which consists in placing the end of a core member on the face of an inner sole body,

placing the end of a covering strip over such core, bending down the edge portion of the strip at each side of the core and attaching such edge portions tothe body, and progressively laying the core member and covering strip on the surface of the body on a line corresponding generally to the outline of the edge of the body and at a distance Within such edge, the strip being so laid that its edges embrace the core member and lie against the body, and continuously attaching such edges to the body.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my 7 signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

JESSE V. POOLE. Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. BROWN, P. W. PEZZETTI. 

